Zionist forces open fire at Palestinian protesters in Gaza

Israeli forces have fired at Palestinian protesters during a night-time protest in the Gaza Strip, killing a teenage boy, on the same night when the regime’s warplanes launched fresh airstrikes on the besieged enclave.

The 15-year-old boy, identified as Saif al-Deen Abu Zeid, was shot dead by the Israeli forces during a protest rally held in eastern Gaza on Wednesday night, medical sources in the enclave confirmed.

Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told AFP that the boy died “due to the wounds he sustained a few hours ago.”

Several other Palestinian youngsters were also injured by live bullets.

The shooting came as Israeli warplanes also launched fresh air raids on the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunis.

Israeli warplanes have in recent weeks increased their airstrikes on various parts of the besieged Strip, mostly targeting posts belonging to Hamas resistance forces and their military wing, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

The killing of the Palestinian teen came a couple of weeks after the Israeli regime’s forces shot dead another Palestinian boy on February 22 and injured dozens more in mass protests along the fence separating the besieged Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied territories.

The blockaded Gaza Strip has been witnessing tensions since last March following anti-occupation protests.

Palestinians have held weekly protests on the Gaza border since last year over the siege on the enclave and the right for refugees to return to their homes they were forcibly expelled from during the 1948 creation of Israel.

More than 260 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces ever since anti-occupation protest rallies began in the Gaza Strip on March 30, 2018. Over 26,000 Palestinians have also sustained injuries.

The Gaza clashes reached their peak on May 14 last year, on the eve of the 70th anniversary of Nakba Day (Day of Catastrophe), which coincided with the US embassy relocation from Tel Aviv to occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds.